


Of Borders, Books, Blooming Death and Bullets

by the_ol_razzle_dazazzle



Category: Touhou Project, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: F/F, specific small fandom small fandom crossover goodness, there are probably only 7.3 people interested in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 19:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11743758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_ol_razzle_dazazzle/pseuds/the_ol_razzle_dazazzle
Summary: Upon the fabled 'Doctor Latency', comprised of Maribel Hearn and Renko Usami, going to their regular bar, the two meet two individuals where in an unexplainable phenomena happens. Renko comes into contact and decides to make an agreement to find a mysterious book from a man called Fyodor Doestoevesky, and Maribel isn't sure whether the entity that lurks behind her shadows is a mere mirror of a 'Lafcadio Hearn.'Something happens that night, and youkai that belonged in Geksokyou are being transported to the human realm, but why? All one knows is that all of them are associated with those who document the natural and supernatural- that is, the interesting species of human known as 'writers'. Perhaps 'Doctor Latency' and Lafcadio Hearn are such people.





	Of Borders, Books, Blooming Death and Bullets

  
There was a bar from the days of old, in this new modern world. It was near the train station, hidden under a canopy of trees. It was strange, that considering such distributions as ‘old alcohol’ were expensive that this place was, for lack of better word, dingy and lacking in dignity.

“Guillotine, guillotine! Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!” It was a time in the border of morning and night were people’s consciousness weaved in and out at the sight. Bottles smashed against one wall upon feeling a cold chill mistaken for a ghost. Salted peanuts scattered the floor in an attempt to ward off spirits, forgotten and looking like the blobs of souls.

A doctor emerged from the bar. Well, a writer can be anyone they wish. Two writers, in fact. The singular 'Doctor Latency’ was cast aside upon his lack of knowledge, and lack of funds- a bum’s rush as the famed name cast him into the light of normality as punishment.

One half doctor was terrified. Normally, it is with smug all-knowing passionate curiosity in which she displays her readings. But her face is red from red wine and tears, that she disguises with her cap on her foreign white face.

“Merry, you’ll be fine…” Words that shook with the uncertain slur of liquor, and behind a known conscientious.

“Renko, I don’t know how I can keep going like this.” Her normal shell had become too much for her. “The treatment fixed nothing, it made it worse-”

“That treatment was a farce and you know it!” Renko snapped, before softly cupping her cheek. “They don’t know you, they tried to control it because it’s not something they understand.”

“I can’t understand it either.” Maribel peeked up from her bonnet, at the one person that believed her. After months of isolation where she could no longer use her power, there was no one left- not even herself. But there was Renko.

The other half smiled at that, “That’s the whole point isn’t it? Trying to explain the unexplainable? That’s why we formed the sealing club, the swallowstone, all of this.”

Maribel had a faint smile, and had a sip of water. “I suppose so. But really, I don’t know how I could possibly go on like this…frazzled state.”

Renko laughed, and kissed her on the lips. “What are you talking about? You’ll talk better than ever.” The two walk up to where musicians normally play.

“You’ll hold my hand, won’t you? I’m ever so scared.” Maribel beams. “Of course, Merry.”

Now, what is not important is the discussion of upmost importance that the two 'Doctor Latency’s’ are having. They are merely stating the obvious, which is only obvious if one has visited this bar, or if one is a manipulator of highest caliber.

Two university students commonly publish a magazine called the 'Swallowstone Naturalis Historia’. It is full of all matter of occult, from detailing the boundaries of the world around them, power spots, demons and the supernatural. However, such works of fictitious nature are not included.

That is to say, they are, contrary to most drunkard’s in the bars beliefs (and stories they themselves tell) real. At least, in the realm of reality.

Renko is a plain girl. A girl who has worked hard to get where she is, driven enough to make her ordinary extraordinary. As a child she has believed things beyond her normal, capable realm.

She has been disappointed to find God or whomever else has not given her an 'ability’. As such, she has made her own. Able to tell the stars and the moon, wherever a place may be, and where her place in the world is.

Which is right next to Maribel. Maribel is the one that matters, and, if history would write, the only 'Doctor Latency’ needed. While Maribel’s own ability is not that of the 'tangible’ nature, like super strength, speed, invisibility or what have you, she has been gifted (and cursed) with something far greater.

The ability to see, and manipulate boundaries. Now before one scoffs, please take a second to look at the world around you. Trace the outlines of any surface or object you see fit. That is a border. Consider the cells that make it up, another border. Consider what distinguishes life and death, yet another.

Maribel was indeed a girl of much potential. Though she will not admit it, much fear is in her heart. She travelled through her dreams, and had gotten injured- causing her to go to hospital. Upon explaining that a chimera in a overgrown greenhouse asteroid had almost killed her, she was sent for isolation therapy in some mountainous area.

Now one could say, well- she could merely look at the moon’s light on a puddle and travel there! But no. Maribel was restricted by the mind, to be 'soothed’. Her ability was to be erased, merely fabricated as a dream. But Renko, Renko grounded her. She assured her she was there. If Maribel could write history, she would take upmost care that there were two 'Doctor Latency’s’. The two shared the pen name, just like they shared time.

But not the same fate. It was a fact that neither wanted to address in time or space. However it lingered in the back of their minds, even while discussing. Mirrors that could replay dreams, legends of a mallet that could grant miracles, but no such thing that could fix this.

Eventually the crowd got silent enough for them to step down, most on their own stories to dreams- and so the two retired to their seating arrangements, and nattered about nothing.

Maribel was staring into the distance, “We’ll miss the train…” Renko glanced up, “What train?” Maribel hummed in thought, “You know, I never thought much of this place but…I think it’s a power spot.”

“A power spot?!” Renko spluttered, causing a nod from Maribel, lips a line in thought. “Maybe it’s because of the train, but usually spots aren’t full of people.”

“But spots are guaranteed to have things of power, that’s why they’re power spots right?” Renko tilted her head in thought. “But there’s only humans here… and sorta humans.” The last part murmured inaudibly.

“That’s just it. There’s gotta be someone here like us! With supernatural abilities!” Maribel beamed.

“Yes! Someone like you!” Renko smiled in kind. Maribel’s smile dissolved, “I think I’ll check out that train.”

“Okay, just make sure you…” But she already left. “Don’t leave me behind.” Renko’s eyes felt glassy.

For someone who was normally late, Renko could tell the time. An eternity seemed to pass by, but a glance up at the stars merely stated 15 minutes. “Time is relative anyway…” She mumbled under her breath. “Pardon me, is this seat taken?”

“Well, not now.” Renko found herself faced with a tired man. He looked foreign, with a pale composition and unkempt hair, which had an Ushanka perched on top. Despite it being winter in Japan, the man was dressed too warmly, especially considering the haze of the bar.

“You must be 'Doctor Latency’, correct?” Even with one’s eyes closed one could tell he was smirking, tired eyes that hid a hint of deviousness.

“Only partly so. I believe you’re looking for Miss Hearn, not Renko Usami.”

“I haven’t been able to find Lafcadio, so I’m not afraid that I have the pleasure of making your acquaintance.”

“Lafcadio? You must be mistaken, Merry- I mean, Maribel…” She sighed, another thing she couldn’t grasp. “And to whom do I have the pleasure of not being afraid of?”

“Fyodor Doestovesky.” His hand revealed itself as it settled on the front of his coat, revealing speckles of red. His eyes were weary but alive and reanimated, sleepless. Perhaps he could succeed at pretending to be 'Doctor Latency’.

“I must say, that despite being a man of realism and psychology, your works have caught my attention.” Fyodor hummed. “It’s rare, considering most people fabricate supernaturality. But I do believe, sadly, that some are gifted with abilities. That some have access to the world beyond them.”

Renko nodded, “Yes, of course.” A pang of jealousy and pride bloomed in her chest. “My dearest Merry is one such person.”

“Do you, Renko Usami, have such powers?”

“I wish!” Renko bursts out laughing in a way that only a pained person could understand. “No, no- I’ve merely learnt to read the stars. I’m nothing but a human GPS, really.”

“And yet, you’ve experienced what Miss Hearn has?” Fyodor raised an eyebrow.

“Absolutely. Merry has been able to take me to all sorts of places, however… I’m not actually 'there’.”

“You can see and touch right? So shouldn’t it be real?”

“No, for me it is merely a dream to have such power. If we get chased, for me it is a dream- but for Merry she would fear for her life, for it is her life on the threshold.”

Renko sighed, “But you know all that anyway right? You’ve been in these meetings?”

“Whenever I have time, yes.”

“I’m sure you ability-users must have all the time in the world.” Fyodor’s eyes widened at the response.

“Now what gave you the idea that I have an ability?” Renko clasped a hand over her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I was merely making assumptions.” Renko brushed a hand away. “Merry said that there had to be someone here like us…her. Someone with an ability.” She caught on, “But…judging by that reaction, you must have one too, correct?”

“Yes.” Fyodor smiled. “Though my ability isn’t something to wave around so lightly.”

“Hmm? And what would that be?”

“Killing anything with a single touch. Crime and Punishment. It’s like I have been blessed with the smiting hand of God.”

Renko froze, a chill running up her spine. Fyodor set a bitten finger on her shoulder, tapping to her senses.

“Most people don’t react very well to that. The people I have told, at least.”

But Renko wasn’t unsettled by the feeling of death. In fact, the two had danced with it before. “Nostalgia.” The word passed her lips before it registered.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing is ever as it seems in this world, correct?”

“A paranoid way to put it, but yes.”

“Do you…you feel like something somewhere has happened? Like…in some forgotten place, some forgotten time, there were people you used to be?”

“Of course, my dear.”

“I haven’t thought much of it, but… there was one place we went to. The Netherworld. Merry remembered seeing a ghost there, cherry trees. But all I saw were specks of white.”

“Why, isn’t that the regular form phantoms supposedly take?”

“Yes! But…I’ve been able to see everything else. The phoenix, the umbrella lady, the gap woman… all out of the corner of my eyes at least. But not this one. Not her.”

“If it is a ghost, shouldn’t that be natural?” Fyodor questioned, but the two were on a train of thought that was precisely where fate wanted.

“I haven’t thought much of it…but I hear there’s a phenomenon. About how strange things, or at least stranger things, happen when people with similar abilities collide.” Yes, this was precisely where the conversation wanted.

“I don’t have such a thing…but yet…”

*****

Maribel stared blankly at the train station. Something compelled her to be here. Red eyes dripped down from the shadows, glimpses of red bows.

“W-Who’s there?” Maribel’s voice shook, but on answered. She looked around, searching for some semblance to determine reality and…well, both were reality for her. Her white bonnet lay forgotten on the tracks.

She grasped her hat, stepping down and stepping back up. Maribel set it on her head, but the space was already taken up by another.

The discarded hat had a bow of red string on it, and it was discarded once more in shock. She rubbed at her eyes, finding no newfound solace or enlightenment. At the counter she saw a glimpse of purple and yellow, and when she dashed towards it, it disappeared. There was only a tiny slip in between the service counter, but there was a person there, surely!

A coin spat itself out, settling in her hand. There was a set of eyes staring at her, a void packaged with scarlet ribbons. She set her hand in the gap…

*****

“While the phenomenon is only a secret known to a special few, and I assure you I’ve gone to great lengths to find out, it hasn’t been tested very well.” Fyodor explains, beckoning a bottle of vodka and a shot glass, which was sent as he took a sip.

“For example, say two people who can stop time, for the exact same periods of time, battle it out. They are of equal capability and caliber, with no possible outside interference. Who would win?”

“They’re exactly the same?”

“In attributes that contribute to this fight, yes.”

“Then neither would, right?” Renko hums in thought. “Or both. Or both at the same time?”

“Correct. I suppose it depends on the observation.”

“But this is purely theoretical, right?” Renko raises an eyebrow, “No one would ever do such cruel things to a cat.”

“One would like to think so.”

*****

“Lafcadio Hearn. Koizumi Yakumo, I’m none of these people!” Maribel cried out. “Just who are you?!”

A gentle hand taps her shoulder, and Maribel whips her head around. There is a woman, with long flowing hair with bows at the tips. Violet eyes, flaxen hair, and an umbrella. She’s wearing the same bonnet Maribel had discarded.

A hand beckons to her, and she reaches for it.

But it was glass, a mirror.

*****

“What does this have to do with me? Why are you telling me all this?” Renko asks, she has the strange dreaded feeling of recovering from alcohol, along with telling too much.

“Because I have found something. An object greater than anything you have ever found in your shared travels. One that could bridge the gap between everything you’ve ever wanted.” Fyodor murmurs, retrieving a notebook.

“A book?” Renko flicked through the pages. “It’s blank. How is this supposed to help?”

Fyodor burst out laughing, “I wouldn’t hand the real thing over so easily! Truth is, I haven’t even found it myself. But this book, anything written in it becomes a reality.”

“If you haven’t even found it, how can you know for certain?”

“How does one know that a reality is a reality?” Fyodor takes the book back. “But I need this more than anything. It is long forgotten, and my only leads is that it is somewhere here or there, and a tiger beetle.”

“Such a thing doesn’t even sound real.” Renko splutters. “And this is coming from the person who’s seen chimeras and phoenixes.”

“Precisely. I figure that one who could flow so easily between worlds could assist me.”

“Then you’re talking to the wrong Latency here!” Renko exclaims. “I’m nothing compared to Maribel.”

“On the contrary, from what you’ve told me, it’s entirely possible that you have your part to play.”

“What, because I came up with some messy guess that links me to the 'princess of the netherworld’ or whatever?”

“A theory is a better word for it.” Fyodor taps his fingers on the table. “Now, until Miss Hearn arrives, allow me to kill some time.”

*****

'My memory is only as good as sixty years old. It is humorous, to think that at the same time, the spider lillies bloom and judgement reigns.’

'There is a reason, after all- why boredom sounds ever so familiar to border. I have crafted a world where my forgotten memory and the relics of the outside world can fester.

'But one cannot keep the bird in the cage for so long. Perhaps I will set out, and attempt to be 'human’ once more.’

**Author's Note:**

> Annnnd there we go, I'm not really one for crossovers, and I know not many people are into both of these two fandoms, but the idea was too good for me to pass up, and with a few long train rides I decided to type the first chapter up anyway. If any of you are interested, please comment- but otherwise I shall return to my regular scheduled programming~


End file.
